1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular lighting system, and more specifically to a vehicular lighting system for evoking an image of a “face” by having each lighting device recognized as an “eye”.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, efforts have been made to develop a technique for enhancing the visibility of a motorcycle. JP-A No. 334976/2001 below discloses lamp devices for visual recognition which are additionally provided to a head lamp normally equipped to a motorcycle. The lamp device are adapted to emit light different from that of the head lamp by methods such as flashing blue or green light or diffusing light to the surroundings using a diffusion lens. On the other hand, as an approach from the side of the driver of a four wheel car, JP-A No. 243538/1999 discloses a vehicular lighting system capable of showing a motorcycle, a pedestrian, or the like more clearly than is possible with an ordinary camera image by performing a predetermined image processing on an image of an infrared camera that shows the state of heat distribution.
Although the above-mentioned techniques exist, the easiest and the most commonly practiced technique for enhancing the visibility of a motorcycle is to perform daytime running of lights, due to problems such as vehicle production cost. However, there is a fear that the spread of such daytime running of lights to trucks or buses in recent years may cause a relative deterioration in the unique visibility of motorcycles, which has led to a search for lights enabling a further enhancement in visibility. With these circumstances as a backdrop, the present inventors have directed attention to the shape and placement of lights that directly interact with the brain of a human.
Due to recent studies on brain, the existence of a brain region (neuron) that sensitively reacts to a specific pattern is known. For monkeys, in addition to a “hand neuron” that sensitively reacts to the pattern of a hand, a “face neuron” that sensitively reacts to the pattern of a face has been reported. Further, it is becoming clear that the human also has this brain region for performing face pattern processing. In view of this, attempts have been made with regard to the visibility of a motorcycle to a human observing the motorcycle by evoking the image of a “face” on the front side of the motorcycle while taking advantage of the specific search and recognition abilities for face patterns that the human innately has. In this technique, the most important part for the expression of a “face” is “eyes”. Thus, an important consideration in constructing a motorcycle that evokes the image of a “face” is how to effectively create “eyes” through appropriate placement of a headlamp or position lamp.
Now, referring to FIG. 12, an example of a conventional lighting device configuration will be described. FIG. 12(a) is a front view of a scooter type motorcycle 50. In the motorcycle 50, a front wheel WF2, which is pivotally supported to the lower end portions of front forks 52 so as to be rotatable, is steered by means of handlebars 51. The motorcycle 50 is provided with a center cowl 53 laterally covering the center of the vehicle body, and an upper cowl 54 provided on the front side of the vehicle body. A symmetrical two-lamp headlight 60 installed in the upper cowl 54 is composed of circular light-emitting potions 61 and lenses 62 having a substantially rhombic contour. Accordingly, the light emitting portion 61 can evoke the image of a pupil portion of an eye, and the contour line of the lens 62 can evoke the image of the contours of upper and lower eyelids forming a “up-slanting eye”. Thus, under brightly lit environments such as in the daytime, the headlight 60 can be readily recognized as “eyes” by the observer, so the motorcycle 50 has the effect of evoking the image of a “face”. However, in states where the headlight 60 is lit in the nighttime, as shown in FIG. 12(b), only the circular light-emitting portions 61 are visible. In this case, of course, the headlight 60 is not recognized as “eyes”, thereby making it impossible to evoke the image of a “face”.
Further, FIGS. 13(a) to 13(c) show experimentally created headlight shapes for evoking the image of a “face”. FIG. 13(a) shows a case in which the entirety of the surfaces forming “eyes” is made to emit light, with the contours of the headlight being drawn substantially in the shape of up-slanting eyes. In this arrangement, however, although the headlight can be associated with “eyes”, it cannot be readily distinguished from other lights. Thus the image as a “face” is formed only to some limited extent.
FIG. 13(b) shows a case in which circular light-emitting portions corresponding to pupils are provided, the light emitting portions being made to emit light together with the surfaces forming the headlight. Although this arrangement allows the headlight to be strongly recognized as “eyes” as compared with the arrangement shown in FIG. 13(a), it is difficult to distinguish between the circular light-emitting portions and the light emitting surfaces corresponding to sclera portions (whites of eyes), so the image as a “face” is formed only to a somewhat greater extent.
FIG. 13(c) shows a case in which circular light-emitting portions corresponding to pupils, and contour lines of the headlight are made to emit light. In this arrangement, the loss of the contour lines is liable to occur in the nighttime due to the occurrence of glare (a phenomenon whereby an object to be seen becomes hard to see when an extremely bright portion partially exists within the field of view) or changes in the viewing angle. In this case, only the circular light-emitting portions become visible and hence the headlight is not recognized as “eyes”, so the image of a “face” is not formed.
As described above, JP-A No. 334976/2001 and JP-A No. 243538/1999 give no consideration to contrivances aimed at enhancing the visibility by evoking the image of a “face” on the front side of a motorcycle. Further, it is impossible with the conventional headlight arrangement shown in FIG. 12 to evoke the image of a “face” in the nighttime. Further, with the headlight arrangements shown in FIGS. 13(a) to 13(c), the effect of evoking the image of a “face” cannot be attained in a satisfactory manner.
The object of the present invention is solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a vehicular recognition system that evokes the image of a “face” on the front side of the motorcycle by enhancing the effect of having lights recognized as “eyes”.